Many different sized studs are used in home and building construction. Most brackets used to secure electrical boxes to studs are made for a specific size and stud type, such as metal or wood studs. Requiring so many different brackets requires installers to have a large inventory of brackets available for the numerous studs used in construction projects. If a specific bracket size is not available for a particular stud, an installer must order new brackets of the appropriate size or modify a different bracket that is available so that it will fit on the stud. This results in an inefficient and time consuming endeavor and further complicates the construction process. A need exists for a bracket that is easily adjustable to be secured to various size studs, thereby providing a more versatile bracket and reducing the number of different brackets required to be kept in inventory.
Another problem with existing electrical box brackets is not being able to correctly position the bracket on the stud. Existing electrical box brackets do not have openings that allow an installer to align the bracket with indicia marked on the stud to correctly position the bracket on the stud. This results in electrical boxes not being in proper positions when secured to the bracket. The brackets must then be remounted on the stud, thereby resulting in an inefficient and time consuming installation process. A need exists for an electrical box bracket in which marked indicia on the stud is visible through the bracket to facilitate proper positioning and mounting of the electrical box bracket on the stud.
Another problem with existing electrical box brackets is that there are insufficient weld projections on the brackets to ensure an adequate weld exists between the bracket and the electrical box, thereby compromising the integrity of the weld. This problem is further complicated by the numerous different electrical box brackets that are used in the construction process. Different electrical boxes have different knockout patterns, which often results in weld projections being located in a knockout so that it may not be used to create a weld joint between the electrical box and the bracket. A need exists for an electrical box bracket having a plurality of weld projections to ensure that a strong weld joint is formed between the bracket and the electrical box.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,573,446 to Umstead et al. discloses a bracket having an adjustable member, as shown in FIGS. 3, 7 and 8. However, the adjustable biasing portion 90 is formed by a portion of only the first leg member 82. Because the adjustable biasing portion is shorter than the length of the first leg member only a small range of support sizes can be accommodated by the bracket. Moreover, there is no opening on the base portion to allow an installer to align the bracket with indicia on the support.
Thus, there is a continuing need to provide improved brackets for securing electrical boxes to supports.